Character Creation
( Blank Character Sheet for reference. Also check out Player and Character Roles) Note before we begin that the Steps I list here are NOT always set-in-stone sequential; some can certainly be done out of order. What I list here is just what I would suggest to a new player.' Step 1: Choose a class! This should be self-evident by now (though I should note that, for purposes of my To-Do List’s priorities, if you have never requested a class OR have no playable characters then you will be automatically bumped up to near the front). For the purposes of this sheet, however, I will be making a sample character using an existing class. Just for shits ‘n’ giggles, I’ll pick the Beatnik. Step 2: Personality Traits! Characters have 5 Personality Traits in total, two of which you may pick and three of which are randomized. Looking at your class sheet, you will see two-three columns of Essential Traits -- the two traits you pick MUST be from this list. Moreover, precedence must be given to your dominant stats when applicable. For example, the Savant (++ARC/+INT) must have at least one of their chosen Essential Traits be +Arcane. This is also why a class like the Beatnik (- - MGT/- - RES/+SPI) doesn’t even have +Spirit Traits listed -- their other two stats are dominant and you can only pick two traits, so there isn’t even a point to including it. After selecting two Essential Traits, the other three traits can be selected through use of a reputable Random Number Generator. Simply set the limits from 1 to 132, hit Generate, and discount traits you’ve already rolled. For your convenience, an enumerated list of Personality Traits (TKP edit: is linked to here) Remember, however, that every class sheet also has a list of Conflicting Traits (shown just below the Essential Traits), which cannot be a part of your character’s personality, even if randomed! If you do roll a Conflicting Trait, simply discount it and reroll. Once you have rolled all three random traits, you MAY choose to reroll ONE of them (bearing in mind that you will be stuck with the result, even if it is worse for you). Alternatively, you may even use your reroll to reselect one of your Essential Traits if your randoms have given you some new ideas on where to take your character. Getting back to our example, on my Beatnik I have picked the following traits: Fluent (+Skill/-Might) Bubbly (+Vitality/-Resilience) I then hop on the Random Number Generator and roll... 8. Awkward (+Luck/-Skill) 106. Secretive (+Sensory/-Vigor) 15. Bubbly (+Vitality/-Resilience) ← I already have this trait; roll negated 72. Jolly (+Vitality/-Might) Looks pretty good! But I’m not so sure I want Secretive, so I choose to reroll it, instead getting… 103. Reliable (+Resilience/-Luck) ← Conflicting Trait; roll negated 13. Brooding (+Will/-Spirit) ← Conflicting Trait; roll negated 131. Wise (+Intelligence/-Arcane) So this makes my final trait list… Fluent (+Skill/-Might) Bubbly (+Vitality/-Resilience) Awkward (+Luck/-Skill) Jolly (+Vitality/-Might) Wise (+Intelligence/-Arcane) Ogh! Is perfect! I couldn’t have asked for a better set!' Step 3: Base Stats! With your traits all set, now it’s time to write out the twelve Enclave Stats: Vitality Arcane Vigor Might Will Skill Resilience Sensory Intelligence Spirit Reflex Luck Now take a look at your personality traits, count up their Stat Modifiers (ex. Wise (+Intelligence/-Arcane) ← These things), and list them on your sheet next to their appropriate stats. This will be useful for your entire time with the character and will make some later steps MUCH easier. So, for our sample Beatnik, it would be as such: ++Vitality - Arcane Vigor - - Might Will Skill - Resilience Sensory +Intelligence Spirit Reflex +Luck I usually superscript my Stat Modifiers like this for aesthetic purposes. Also, you’ll note that my Skill stat has remained untouched! This is because my Fluent trait gave it a (+) and my Awkward trait gave it a (-), canceling out to no modification. Right, getting close to done! Next thing is to set our Human Stats: the average human, by default, would have 10 in every stat. However, as you must’ve noted, our Personality will actually slightly alter our Base Stats (+/- 1 per modifier). So the Human Stats on our Beatnik would look like this: ++Vitality 12 - Arcane 9 Vigor 10 - - Might 8 Will 10 Skill 10 - Resilience 9 Sensory 10 +Intelligence 11 Spirit 10 Reflex 10 +Luck 11 But Enclave Warriors are far from being normal humans -- this is where your class’s Base Stat Modifiers come in! You know how classes are always listed as having stat specialties (++X/++Y/-Z, that sorta thing)? Well this is where they come in: for each (+) or (-) in your class’s Base Stat Modifiers, adjust the appropriate stat by TWO. For our Beatnik (- - MGT/- - RES/+SPI), their Base Stats would now look like this: ++Vitality 12 - Arcane 9 Vigor 10 - - Might 4 Will 10 Skill 10 - Resilience 5 Sensory 10 +Intelligence 11 Spirit 12 Reflex 10 +Luck 11 WOW, dem’s some low stats! This’ll make for a fun challenge to play.' Step 4: Distributing Level 1 Stats! All Enclave characters start at Level 1, but even at this low tier they are FAR more powerful than the average human! This is because, in addition to your Base Stats, you (the player) can distribute a whole bunch of bonus points among your character’s stats, even when they are first made. But how many points do you have? Excellent question. Remember the class’s Base Stat Modifiers (++X/++Y/-Z ← These)? Well, if you count up the total (+)’s and (-)’s, you will notice that they ALWAYS even out to either +3, -3, or 0. This total is what determined how many points you are allowed to distribute at Level 1. * If your class’s Base Stat Modifiers total +3 (ex. the Agent, ++Reflex/ ++Intelligence/-Resilience), you will have 24 points to distribute * If your class’s Base Stat Modifiers total 0 (ex. the Lazarite, - - Vitality/ +Spirit/+WILL), you will have 32 points to distribute * If your class’s Base Stat Mods total -3 (ex. the Beatnik, - - Might/- - Resilience/+Spirit, per our example), you will have 40 points to distribute This, by the way, is why picking a -3 Total class isn’t a strict downside -- you actually get more total stat points to distribute! It’s just slightly harder to specialize heavily in a single stat when you do so, and you are more likely to have a weakness among your stats. So, now we know how many points we have, what’s stopping us from dumping ALL of them into one stat? Da rules, that’s what. You may not put more than 6 of these distributable points into a single stat. However, this number is shifted by +/- 1 per Modifier given by your traits! So on our Beatnik, for example, we could put no more than 4 points into Might (since it has two minuses), but we could put as many as 8 points into Vitality (since it has two pluses)! Beyond these limitations, however, your point distribution is entirely up to you.' Let’s do this now with our Beatnik! To remind you, we have 40 points to distribute and our stats look like this: ++Vitality 12 - Arcane 9 Vigor 10 - - Might 4 Will 10 Skill 10 - Resilience 5 Sensory 10 +Intelligence 11 Spirit 12 Reflex 10 +Luck 11 So let’s think… Hmmm… well, since the Beatnik seems to be a good class for Spirit I think I want to put a full +6 there. And I definitely like the challenge of low Might (it also gives me some cool ideas for Flavor!), so I won’t put points there. I think I’ll give +3 to Resilience, just to not be totally helpless. But I like Vitality for the morale and Will for the magic protection, so I’ll put a full +8 in the former and +5 in the latter. Some Intelligence probably wouldn’t hurt either, so +5 to that. And I think I’ll also give +4 to Luck, just ‘cuz I feel like it. With my 9 remaining points, I think I’ll give +3 to Sensory, Reflex, and Vigor, just to keep them nice and rounded. Following all that, here’s what my finalized Level 1 stats for this character are looking like: ++Vitality 20 - Arcane 9 Vigor 13 - - Might 4 Will 15 Skill 10 - Resilience 8 Sensory 13 +Intelligence 16 Spirit 18 Reflex 13 +Luck 15 I’m very happy with how this came out! A good blend of balance and specialization while keeping one or two stats deliberately weak to force me to modify my play style to work around it. Looks good to me, so let’s move on!' Step 5: Starting Equipment! I love how my stats turned out, but now it’s time to take some equipment that’ll complement the playstyle I’m hoping to realize. On your class sheet, you will see a list of Useable Equipment (twelve in total). When you create a character, you may select 6 items from this list to begin the game with. Your character will certainly get more equipment as loot from their missions or through trading, but at the start you’ll need to rely only on what you pick here. All items taken as Starting Equipment will come as Upgrade 1, Quality 3. To see the Upgrade 1 name of a piece you are selecting, please consult the Enclave Item Facts Doc and list it on your character sheet. If it isn’t listed there, contact a Conduit so they can update the Facts document and give you that name. This document is also very useful to figure out what all these items actually do -- some, like, say, a Large Shield might be pretty self-evident, but others, like Pendulums, might be a bit less intuitive. Also bear in mind that some items you take here will automatically come with an enhancement! You can check whether this is the case on the Enclave Item Facts Doc as well. If you pick a base-enhanced item, please contact a Conduit so they can generate an applicable enhancement for you.' Getting back to our Beatnik, let’s take a look at that Useable Equipment list and see what we want. Well, it’s immediately clear to me, at least, that we need a Picket Sign -- they’re the Beatnik unique item, scale well off of Spirit (which we have a good amount of), enhance our abilities, and provide us with some much-needed defenses. Awesome I definitely like Casting Stones as well to give our teammates some much-needed protection. In fact, since I know that my class is primarily a Support, I think I’ll take a Pack as well to help carry my allies’ stuff. I’ll also take Candles to help improve the power of my abilities, all the better to support my allies. Glasses also look useful to help solve tricky puzzles, and lastly I think I’ll grab a Ring just for jollies. Now I have to look up the Upgrade 1 names of these items, which only takes a second. Since no one’s played a Beatnik before, however, the Item Facts document doesn’t list the Upgrades for Picket Signs, so I ask a Conduit before putting it down on my sheet. This brings my Starting Equipment to… Mounted Message (Upgrade 1 Picket Sign) 3 Knucklebones (Upgrade 1 Casting Stones) 3 Knapsack (Upgrade 1 Pack) 3 Wicks (Upgrade 1 Candles) 3 Focals (Upgrade 1 Glasses) 3 Metal Band (Upgrade 1 Ring) 3 I use a superscript to denote Quality for aesthetic purposes. Last thing I need to do here is ask a Conduit to generate an enhancement for my Ring (which, being Jewelry, always comes with an Enchantment, Bound Spell, or Curse). After talking with Tasker, I receive the enchantment Any Way the Wind Blows (If you move in the same direction as an air current, you will receive a speed boost scaling on how fast and powerful that wind is) What a great set of equipment! Just one small thing left: since both Candles and Casting Stones come in “clips”, I should note down that I have access to additional clips of each of them as Store Options. This’ll be good to put down in case I forget when I comes time to get to the Mission Store!' Step 6: Abilities! We’re very nearly done with creating our character! But here comes one of the most important parts of the process: your first Ability Point. Now, obviously, all Enclave classes have six abilities, 3 Basic and 3 Advanced. You will start with ONE POINT in EACH of your Basic Abilities FOR FREE when you create the character. However, at Level 1 you will also have an additional point to put into a Basic Ability of your choosing! So why would you want to do so? Well, abilities can only go up to Lv5, so putting even one point into an ability will significantly improve its power and unlock cool new perks. Plus, when you get a Basic Ability to Lv3, you will be able to put points into its corresponding Advanced Ability (a totally new ability, generally with MUCH higher power) the next time you level up. So you can put points into an ability because it complements your playstyle, you’re after its corresponding Advanced Ability, you want it to be more powerful, or you just plain like it!' With our Beatnik, our three Basic Abilities are Petition (a funky interruptive effect), Righteous (a team-effort energy replenisher), and Open Mind (a pacifier and viewpoint-shifter). By this point I’ve decided I definitely want to go the full-supportive route, so I decide to put my extra point into Righteous (plus, the ability is hilarious). This brings my abilities to… Petition Lv1 Righteous Lv2 Open Mind Lv1''' Step 7: Name! Last gasp, everyone! We’re so close! But, unfortunately, I’ve saved the hardest for last -- the dreaded Character Name. For some people this is the easiest part (you might already have a name in mind, can quickly be inspired by something related, or are just good at making shit up on the spot), but for others it can take a while. I tend to come up with names pretty easily; in fact, I already have a pretty good idea of what I want. I think I want this character to be a woman, a high-school dropout who’s 16 years old, full of idealism, and wants nothing more than to spread her love (and her legs) to the world. The sort of person who’s sweet and unambitious, but whose words and actions carry a lot of weight in spite of their simplicity. What a perfect hippy! I think I’ll name her Peggy. Peggy Ann Lloyd. And this is a great jumping-off-point for any flavor I decide to write about Peggy down the line, too!' Step 8: Character Sheet! With everything all set and ready, all that’s left is to create a cohesive Character Sheet to properly display everything you’re created for your awesome Enclave Warrior. I’ll be showing Peggy’s on the next page for you to see and copy the format if need be. Thank you all for bearing with me through this process! I certainly hope it has been an elucidating experience for you. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Peggy Ann Lloyd – Lv1 Beatnik EXP: 0% Personality: Fluent (+Skill/-Might) Bubbly (+Vitality/-Resilience) Awkward (+Luck/-Skill) Jolly (+Vitality/-Might) Wise (+Intelligence/-Arcane) Equipment: Mounted Message 3 Knucklebones 3 Knapsack 3 Wicks 3 Focals 3 Metal Band 3 * Enchantment: Any Way the Wind Blows (If you move in the same direction as an air current, you will receive a speed boost scaling on how fast and powerful that wind is) Stats: ++Vitality 20 - Arcane 9 Vigor 13 - - Might 4 Will 15 Skill 10 - Resilience 8 Sensory 13 +Intelligence 16 Spirit 18 Reflex 13 +Luck 15' Abilities: Petition Lv1 Righteous Lv2 Open Mind Lv1 Store Options: Casting Stones (Grants you 8 additional stones) Candles (Provides 2 extra candles)''' Stash: _______________________________________________________________________________ "